Software programs are typically subject to a license agreement which regulates the use of the software program. For example, the license agreement may be a shrink-wrap agreement allowing only a single installation of the software program. In a business environment, for example, a license for a particular software program may authorize the business to have multiple installations or instances of the software on different computers. In these circumstances, the license may specify a maximum number of permitted installations or seats of the software program at any given time.
In order to avoid unauthorized use of a software program that may be installed on multiple computers, certain technologies use some form of a hardware footprint which is established upon installation of the software program. When the number of installations exceeds a permitted number of installations authorized by the license agreement, an alarm or notification may be triggered indicating a breach of the agreement. In some circumstances the installation software may prevent further installations. However, one or more of the subsequent installations may replace a previous installation and the further installation may thus be a permitted installation. In these circumstances, a user may be required to contact a customer service facility to authorize a further installation (and activation) of the installed software program. Thus, in these circumstances, a system purely counting a number of reinstalls may render a newly installed software program inoperable even though the user may not have exceed the number of installations specified in a license agreement.